Press Release
Independent Audit Finds Persistent Accessibility Gaps Across Illinois Municipal Websites Ahead of 2027 Federal Deadline
All 28 Illinois Municipalities Surveyed Fail WCAG 2.1 AA Standards
Pictured: The Illinois capitol dome overlaid with a universal accessibility icon. Modified from original photo via Andrew Adams on Unsplash (opens in new tab).
CHICAGO, Illinois – October 23, 2026 – An independent audit of Illinois municipal websites has found persistent digital accessibility errors, leaving Illinois cities exposed to Department of Justice enforcement and private litigation ahead of the April 26, 2027 Title II compliance deadline. Cities including Evanston, Naperville, Joliet, and Springfield were all found to have websites out of conformance.
The audit was conducted by Erica Dreisbach, a Chicago-based digital accessibility consultant holding dual certifications from the Department of Homeland Security (DHS Section 508 Trusted Tester) and the International Association of Accessibility Professionals (CPACC). Dreisbach reviewed Illinois city websites for conformance with WCAG 2.1 AA standards, the benchmark required under the DOJ's Title II rule as specified by the Americans with Disabilities Act.
Under the DOJ's updated ADA Title II rule, municipalities with populations over 50,000 must reach full WCAG 2.1 AA conformance by April 26, 2027. Municipalities under 50,000 have until April 26, 2028.
"I reviewed 28 official Illinois city websites, and all 28 had meaningful barriers to access for screenreaders and assistive tech. This was in spite of the use of overlay widgets to patch accessibility gaps as well as stated commitments to ongoing accessibility testing," said Dreisbach.
"City websites are critical pieces of civic infrastructure," Dreisbach said. "They're the way constituents access public meetings, or register to vote, or pay parking tickets, or just communicate with their elected representatives. Digital accessibility for these sites isn't just a legal requirement, it's fundamental to a sustained democracy."
Common violations include insufficient color contrast for legibility, navigation and other vital functionality inaccessible to keyboards, and document libraries that serve inaccessible PDFs. "It's frustrating when many of the benchmarks for Title II are ancient in internet terms, dating back to the first years of Tim Berners-Lee's world wide web in the 1990s," said Dreisbach.
The Most Common AI Chat Widgets Are Inaccessible
An emerging surface area for accessibility gaps lies with chat widgets installed on city websites, which often fail to announce responses to screenreaders. "Visually impaired users might ask the city chatbot a question, and without the necessary programming the chatbot's response will gounannounced. It's like calling the city and the clerk mutes their microphone when they answer," said Dreisbach.
Pictured: Screenshot showing a total of 75 digital accessibility errors and alerts on the Normal, Illinois homepage, including insufficient color contrast for legibility, broken ARIA references, and missing alternative text.
ADA Website Lawsuits on the Rise
"Non-compliance carries real risk, legally and financially," said Dreisbach. According to EcomBack's 2025 ADA Website Accessibility Lawsuit Annual Report, there were 4,605 digital accessibility lawsuits across the U.S in 2025, a 12% increase over 2024. Illinois alone surged from 92 state-wide accessibility lawsuits in 2024 to 576 in 2025.
"Illinois cities that address these issues today are not only doing right by their constituents but also potentially saving thousands of dollars in legal fees," said Dreisbach.
Dreisbach is available to conduct accessibility audits and remediation for Illinois municipalities ahead of the deadline next spring.
Media Contact
Company Name: Dark Black LLC
Contact Person: Erica Dreisbach
Contact: ericadreisbach.com/#contact
Phone: +13127253628
Website: ericadreisbach.com
Sources
Extension of Compliance Dates for Nondiscrimination on the Basis of Disability; Accessibility of Web Information and Services of State and Local Government Entities (opens in new tab) Federal Register (2026)
2025 ADA Website Accessibility Lawsuits Annual Report (opens in new tab) EcomBack (2025)
Ready for Title II compliance before facing lawsuits or DOJ enforcement?